Black Lung Brewing Company

Black Lung Brewing Co. is an alternating proprietorship brewing and distributing out of Zümbier in Waukegan, IL. Post WWII, my grandfather (Big Bill) went to work in the mines of Kentucky. This was against the will of his father, who thought they were too dangerous. As the story goes... One day in particular Big Bill heard a “crack” above his head and ran out of the mineshaft, the whole cavern caved in. He went back into the cavern, his foreman handed him a shovel and said "Billy, get back to work,” but grandpa decided to move on and move north, to Waukegan, IL. instead. This is where he would meet my grandmother, Avonell (who was from West Virginia), start a 30 year career at Outboard Marine Corp., build many homes around Lake County and start this family I so love! One day when we were searching high and low for a name to give our brewery, my wife Sarah, heard a song on the interwebs by Joe Bonamassa. The song was Black Lung Heartache. Having heard my grandfathers mine story long before (early in our relationship) she thought about how fitting it would be to use this name and tell his story. We could name the brewery in a way that honors our Appalachian roots and the memory of a man we loved very much, letting us tell his story over and over again. Show Less